Considering the ecological and environmental
issues caused
by petroleum-based
plastics for packaging fresh-cut fruits and vegetables (FFVs), there
is an urgent need to develop sustainable and ecofriendly active packaging.
Therefore, marine-derived biodegradable carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC)
and sodium alginate (SA) were used to construct a layer-by-layer assembly
system. Then, graphene oxide (GO) was introduced into the SA layer
to produce (CMC/SA)
n
@GO
x
composite films. The impacts of the GO content (x) and assembly layers (n) were investigated on the
internal interactions, microstructure, and packaging properties of
the multilayer films. The rise of x and n leads to the increase of the microregion size and interface thickness
in the films, and the introduction of GO into the SA layer enhanced
its attraction to the CMC layer. With variations in both x and n, the (CMC/SA)19@GO5 film exhibited the greatest mechanical and barrier properties, along
with enhanced UV-shielding capacity. Based on the above result, three
different (CMC/SA)
n
@GO
x
films were selected for fresh-cut apple packaging, with transcriptomics
used to investigate preservation mechanisms. The results showed that
the (CMC/SA)19@GO5 packaging performed with
the best physiological quality due to its high barrier properties,
resulting in lower weight loss, reduced browning, and improved hardness.
This was attributed to enhanced antioxidant capacity and resistance
to wounding stress as well as delayed cell wall degradation and terpenoid
biosynthesis, extending the shelf life of fresh-cut apples. In conclusion,
this study demonstrated the potential of green packaging based on
marine biopolymers for FFV preservation.